Assessment of mental health in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

Background. The study of mental health in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a promising area of medicine not only in terms of determining the psychological profile, but can also serve as an alternative in terms of further management and treatment of this group of patients. The purpose of the study was to examine mental health of IBS patients. Materials and methods. 54 patients with IBS were examined in the psychiatric clinic of Gǟvle Hospital in 2019–2021. They were included in group I of the examined patients. The control group (groupII) included 40 healthy individuals. Assessment of the psychological status was determined using the following methods: 1) Psychological Stress Measure PSM-25 by Lemyr-Tessier-Fillion; 2) The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale; 3) Health Assessment 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36 Health Assessment). Results. Despite the fact that physical symptoms (abdominal pain, intestinal spasm, defecatory dysfunction) were the main complaints in the clinical picture of our patients with IBS, it was found that the key factor in exacerbating and maintaining IBS physical symptoms are psychosocial (cognitive and emotional) factors. We evaluated the quality of life and psychological state of the examined patients with IBS. Analyzing the PSM-25 questions answered by patients from group I with IBS (n=54) and from control group II (n=40) on the level of psychological stress, the following results were obtained with gender distribution: 42.9% of female patients of group I had a high level of stress, and 50.0% a medium level of stress; low levels of stress were found in only 7.1% of female patients of group I. After analyzing the level of stress, we assessed stress resistance, as a significant proportion of patients showed high and medium levels of stress. The level of stress was significantly higher in patients with IBS compared with the control group II. According to the survey on the psychological and physical component of health, these scores were also reduced in patients with IBS compared with the control group. Conclusions. High and medium levels of stress, as well as reduced stress resistance, were found in IBS patients, which is more pronounced in male patients. Decreased psychological and physical components of health have been found in IBS patients, indicating a reduction in the quality of life of these patients.